Cordon's Blog

Sunday, September 14, 2008

September Update 2

I suppose it would be surprising if things kept going as well as I reported in the last update. I wouldn't say that I have any great problems to report, it is just that I am coming to the end of my shift and I am feeling what I call 'Over Exposed'. When I am in the public eye for long periods of time, I begin to think that I am being pointed at or laughed at whether I am or not. Good old fashioned neurotic behaviour I suppose. A good example was an experience at Ploiesti' s Gare du Sud. We had a day off on Saturday so Martin and I visited Bucharest by train. Whilst waiting for the train two young ladies started finger pointing and laughing, I jumped to the conclusion that I was the target. When I plucked up the courage to look them in the eyes I found that although they were being abusive the target was somebody other than me. There have been a few minor examples of bad manners. When sitting and eating at restaurants the patrons at other tables occasionally spot me, then they will whisper to their friends who will turn for a look, one even had the temerity to take a photograph, but they quickly get bored of playing spot the trannie as a rule. Mostly I think it is just that I am tired, our visit to Bucharest was the first day off for both of us since the start of our five week shifts. We saw Ceausescu's Palace, supposedly the second largest building in the world, now the house of parliament, but not very inspiring. Bucharest overall is very run down, some of the older sections are getting much needed money spent on them and I am sure the city will look better in future. The sooner the old communist housing blocks are replaced the better I think. Nestled in amongst the tall city buildings there are a number of small and attractive little Orthodox churches, well worth a look if you can find them. My leave starts on 19th September, this is a good thing, I need to get home for a break.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

September Update 1

As far as my transition is going there is not a lot to report. My body is changing slowly under the effects of the oestrogen patches, but there are no new drastic treatments to report. I will see my consultant again on 14th October, there won't be any significant changes to report until then. As far as my interactions with the people around me are concerned, everything is pretty much back to normal. I go to the pub with my workmates after work or for the occasional pub lunch without anybody showing the least concern. I haven't been singled out for any kind of abuse, not even finger pointing, by anybody in the street, in a shop or at work since my last report. I don't seem to attract any attention anymore. With the exception of the way in which I currently interact with my brothers some of my cousins and my Aunt, my life is back to something like normal. I am in Romania at the moment helping the locals start up a base and even here I haven't attracted any unwanted attention. The town I am in at the moment is Ploiesti, somewhere North of Bucharest. I flew in to Henri Coanda International Airport named after the same Henri Coanda who is famous for describing the Coanda Effect named after him. As I am sure you have guessed he was Romanian. So things are from my point of view going very well.For the last few days of August and the first few days of September I was part of the crew logging the Willoughbridge borehole, drilled to find coal bed methane for Nexen. We stayed in the Royal Hotel in Crewe. Neither the hotel or Crewe seem to have much going for them.